Book Clubs à la Française 

French ‘cercles de lecture’ offer a different take on shared reading from Anglo-Saxon book clubs. 

All across the English-speaking world, book clubs are thriving. Those in America have more than 10 million members, and there are comparable memberships in Canada, the UK, and other countries. And while the demographics of book clubs tend to skew older, the kids enjoy reading, too—TikTok videos about books have been viewed over 66 billion times! 

Book clubs typically follow the classic model: members all read the same book (or sometimes skim it), then meet and discuss it. Many newly-published books even have a “Questions for Book Clubs” section to help organize these discussions. Book clubs provide a form of social connection as well as a forum for discussing books. 

Celebrities have gotten in on the act. Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon are just two of the many who have started their own clubs, and sales of the books they choose can skyrocket. 

Authors have joined in as well, participating in book club discussions by video to meet readers and boost word-of-mouth sales. Best-selling author Alka Joshi, for example, has participated in more than 1,000 book club meetings over the past five years. 

Joining a French Book Club 

My wife Val and I have been in book clubs and we were curious to see what it would be like to join a French book club where we live in California. We assumed it would be at least somewhat different from what we were used to. After all, the other members are French expats, the books we read are in French, and the meetings are held in French.  

The part that surprised us is that we don’t all read the same book. Instead, everyone reads what they want! At our meetings, each person presents a book or two that they’ve read, either recently or sometime in the past. They describe what the book is about and what they liked or disliked about it. They might also say a bit about the author if they’ve read other books by them.  

At this point other members jump in with their own comments. Sometimes they add to what the presenter has said, sometimes they disagree (very French), and sometimes they talk about other books by the same author. It’s all very lively and fun. 

What we’ve learned is that it’s a great way to discover new books and authors. And the best part is that everyone brings the books they are presenting, so we can swap afterwards.  

French Reading Circles 

Val and I spend part of the year in St-Rémy-de-Provence, so we were excited when we found out that our local library has its own book club. Except it’s not called a book club, it’s a cercle de lecture (reading circle.) It’s just like our French book club in the US, and we’ve discovered that the format is popular in France.  

Our head librarian explained that one of the reasons is because reading circles are often organized by libraries. “We don’t follow the Anglo-Saxon model of a book club,” she said, “because then we would have to buy one copy of the book for each member to read, and we’re small and can’t afford that. Only libraries in the big cities can afford that many.” 

“Instead,” she continued, “we buy just one or two copies, and our reading circle encourages circulation—if one member enjoys a book and recommends it, then others are likely to read it as well. And because the attendance at our meeting varies from month to month, a book can be presented more than once.” 

Why Not Both? 

The French love to read, and there are plenty of “Anglo-Saxon-style” book clubs in France. They can even be combined with reading circles. 

I know of one book club that occasionally shifts to the reading circle format. For those meetings a theme is chosen, like mysteries or biographies. Each member reads a book of their choice and presents it to the others.  

The opposite can be done as well, where everyone in a reading circle reads the same book one month, as in a book club. It’s a nice way to keep things fresh. And what better way for the French and the Anglo-Saxons to find common ground! 

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